Home at Chestnut Creek

by Laura Drake

  Wearing his robe did not give her any rights over him. Lighting it up might have burned any bridges between them anyway. She grabbed up a dusting rag and went to work on the shelves in the Dry Creek Feed and Seed Store. As bad as she hated cleaning, she needed something to do so that the hands of the clock would move. Starting on the side where all the supplies were kept, she straightened, wiped out a month’s worth of dust, and grumbled.

  She shouldn’t worry about killing Mitch. He expected a spotlessly clean house and three meals on the table and Lizzy to wear high heels the whole time she was making that happen. After the first week, she’d kill him. Poor old sumbitch had no idea what he was getting into. Of all three Logan sisters, Lizzy hated cleaning the most.

  “Anybody here?” A voice startled her so badly that she threw the dust rag straight up with a squeal. Gravity brought it back to Lucy’s hands and she held it out to her.

  “Just because I caught the damn thing, don’t mean I’m going to use it.”

  Allie laid the rag on the shelf. “What can I do for you today, Miz Lucy?”

  “I need to buy a chainsaw blade for Herman. He called me when I was elbow deep in makin’ bread for the week to tell me to bring a new saw blade out to the Lucky Penny for him. Thinks he can’t waste a minute coming to town to get it, but it’s okay to interrupt what I’m doin’,” Lucy fussed.

  “Got to cut wood while the sun shines. This is just the middle of January. We could have lots more winter before the robins come around to stay,” Allie said.

  “And it would be a sin if one chunk of mesquite wasn’t in his wood yard.” Lucy winked. “Men! Can’t live with ’em and God says we can’t shoot ’em when we get done with ’em. And while I’m here, I need a new extension cord.”

  “The big orange industrial one or one of these brown and white ones?” Allie pointed to the shelf where they were displayed.

  Lucy glanced back toward her office. “Give me one of them white ones then. And put it on our ticket. Where’s Lizzy?”

  “She’s down with that stomach virus that’s going around, but it only lasts a couple of days so she’ll be back by Friday.” Allie rang up the bill and laid Herman’s copy on the counter.

  Lucy scribbled his name on the bottom of the ticket. “Tell her to get well soon and to keep that shit at Audrey’s Place. Us old folks don’t bounce back like the young do. And I sure hope Irene don’t get a dose of it.”

  Allie filed the ticket in a box under the counter. Lizzy could take care of entering all that into the computer later. It was double work but the old folks in town didn’t trust the new way of doing business, so Lizzy and Katy both still made out handwritten tickets for them.

  Lucy pointed to the radio on the counter. “I’m glad that Lizzy plays old country music in here. I hate going into a store and that new stuff is playing. It makes my ears hurt.”

  “Daddy always had the classic country station playing,” Allie said.

  “I know he did. I liked it then and I still do. It don’t get no better than Conway and Loretta.” Lucy smiled. “You know folks in town say you are on a fool’s mission fixin’ up that house for Blake, don’t you?” Lucy changed the subject abruptly.

  “I’m not surprised. Hey, do you remember someone named Walter who lived on the Lucky Penny maybe thirty years ago?” Allie asked.

  Lucy nodded. “Remember him well. Tall, lanky old boy with dark hair and glasses. Him and his mama bought the ranch and lived there a year, maybe two, and then like all the rest of the folks who’ve lived there, they moved on. Can’t recall his last name but his mama was one of them women that always had something wrong with her. I wanted to wring her neck for pretending to be sick all the time. Woman who could eat as much as she could at a church social, why there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with her. She just had to act like that to keep Walter under her thumb. Tell all the ladies at Audrey’s Place I hope they stay well.”

  Allie plopped down in the lawn chair behind the counter. “So Walter isn’t a total figment of her imagination.”

  “No, Walter was very real,” Lucy answered and waved as she left the store. The business phone rang and Allie reached for the cordless sitting beside the cash register. “Dry Creek Feed and Seed,” she answered.

  “I forgot to tell you that the vet supply guy isn’t coming this month and what’s on the shelf is all we’ve got until he gets here the first of February. If someone needs more than what’s there, I can make a run up to Wichita Falls but it’ll take me a couple of days to get it,” Lizzy said.

  “Drink your hot tea and stop worryin’. I can run this store for a day or two,” Allie said. “Lucy is the only customer that you’ve had and she bought an extension cord and a chain for Herman’s chainsaw.”

  “Mitch was coming into town to see me tonight and now he can’t,” Lizzy moaned.

  “None of the rest of us have caught whatever you have. Maybe it’s not a bug but wedding jitters. Or maybe you’re pregnant,” Allie said with a wicked grin.

  “Alora Raine Logan!” Lizzy yelled into the phone.

  Allie held it out from her ear. “Are you telling me it’s not possible? Good God, Lizzy. You’ve been dating this man for a year.”

  “We entered into a covenant when we got engaged. We will abstain until our wedding night,” Lizzy said.

  “Well, that explains a lot.” Allie laughed. “Your bitchy mood. And your sharp tongue and that hangdog look on your face all the time. You need to get laid.”

  “I’m abstaining for the Lord,” Lizzy growled. “You are doing without because you…”

  Allie’s jaw set in anger. “Because I’m ugly as a mud fence? Because I have no sex appeal? Because I am a carpenter? Be careful, Lizzy. I’m minding the store for you and I could rearrange everything or maybe I could shuffle all the stuff in the bill box under the counter.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” Lizzy huffed.

  “Oh, I would and you know it,” Allie said.

  “Mitch is going to be your brother.”

  Allie shook her head emphatically even though no one could see it. “He’s going to be your husband, not my brother, and I will be every bit as nice to him as you were to Riley.”

  “I never did like that bastard,” Lizzy grumbled.

  Allie stood up and carried the phone with her to the first round rack of clothing. “Point proven. I’m going to work on straightening and putting up stock on the clothing side. You need to look around before you order. You’ve got four orange hoodies in a two-X size and only one in a small.”

  “Those will be gone by the end of next week and the small will still be hanging there. I ordered it for Sharlene’s brother and he broke his leg and can’t hunt this year. Thanks for the cleanup. Bye,” Lizzy said in a rush and the phone went silent.

  Allie didn’t need an explanation of the quick end to the call and hoped that she didn’t catch whatever sent Lizzy to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. She looked back through the clothing area of the store. Hunting jackets, hoodies, jeans, and one rack of cute little western shirts for women.

  “I need coffee before I tackle this,” she said.

  After a quick trip to the office/kitchenette, she propped a hip on the tall stool behind the cash register. She had taken the first sip when the door opened, and she looked across the store into the eyes of her ex-husband, Riley. His light brown hair was longer, almost touching his shirt collar, and he’d gained at least twenty pounds, most of it around his midsection right above his belt. All in all he looked like warmed-over shit and that put a big smile on her face.

  “Hello, Allie.” He smiled back at her.

  She wiped the grin off her face instantly. “What brings you to Dry Creek?”

  His soft-soled shoes didn’t make a sound as he crossed the floor. She didn’t recognize that shaving lotion, but it smelled like he’d taken a bath in it and it cost more than a buck ninety-nine at Walmart.

  “I came to talk to you, darlin’,” he said smoothly.

&nb
sp; She recognized his attempt at seduction, but her bullshit radar jacked all the way to the top of the red alert. She crossed her arms over her chest. “That ship sailed a lifetime ago, Riley. I don’t have anything to say to you nor do I want to hear anything you say to me.”

  “But all ships eventually come back home after their adventure.” He placed his palms on the counter and locked gazes with her.

  Riley had been her high school sweetheart. He’d made her feel special. She’d landed the quarterback of the football team and he treated her like a queen. They’d married right before her nineteenth birthday and divorced about the time she was twenty-two.

  “I understand you’ve been flirting with the new owner over at the Lucky Penny and got caught last night after a hot little rendezvous.” His smile was so sarcastic that it chilled the whole store.

  The Riley she married, the one who’d looked into her eyes with such love on their wedding day, was not the man on the other side of the counter. He was the stranger who came home one day and told her he was in love with another woman. There was no way he could ever, ever worm his way into her heart again.

  She sipped her coffee. “I understand you’ve been keeping even later hours with a minor and that your nights are a lot hotter than mine.”

  “She’s of age,” he protested. “And I didn’t come here to talk about Suzanne.”

  “What did you come to talk about?” Allie asked. “Do you need a sack of chicken feed or maybe an extension cord? I can help you with that, but anything else you’ll have to get that from your wife or your newest soul mate.”

  His thin mouth clamped shut until it was nothing more than a slit. Fantastic! Paybacks were a bitch but they could be so sweet.

  “I want to talk about us,” he said through clenched teeth.

  Allie shook her head. “There is no us. Hasn’t been in seven years. There is me, and what I do or do not do isn’t a damn bit of your business. There is you, and I couldn’t care less what you do.”

  “Come on, Allie. We’ve been in love since we were in grade school,” he said.

  “Like I said, that ship sailed. Matter of fact, I believe it sunk in a storm and there’s nothing left of it,” she told him. “You were a sweet guy at one time, but you changed. I’m looking ahead not behind.”

  “We were good together. We could be again.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “We could start fresh like Bobby Ray and Nadine.”

  “Bobby Ray.” She twisted her mouth to the side. “So he came running to your house when Nadine threw him out last night, did he? I wondered how you got your information so quick.”

  Riley reached across the counter and touched her cheek. “Don’t do that with your mouth. It makes you look like an old woman. Bobby Ray stayed with me last night. Nadine cheats on him, too, so she doesn’t have room to bitch. I’m sure that somewhere in our marriage you had a little fling.”

  Allie slid off the stool, reached under the counter, and brought up a small twenty-two-caliber pistol. She shoved it up against Riley’s nose and he took a step back.

  “Do not ever put your hands on me again. I don’t care if I look like an old woman or like warmed-over shit. If you touch me again, I will shoot you and enjoy watching you die before I call nine-one-one,” she said.

  “Well, hell, Allie, you do that with your mouth too much when you are angry,” he said. “I was only trying to help like I did when we were married and I gave you advice.”

  She lowered the gun and laughed out loud.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “You are a regular comedian today,” she said between giggles. “If I cheated on you, I wouldn’t tell you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t tell you. Go home, Riley. It’s been over with us for a long time. And you weren’t giving me advice, you were putting me down that last few months so you wouldn’t feel guilty about cheating on me.”

  “I want you back, Allie. I’ll treat you right this time. I’ll let you work,” he begged.

  She shook her head slowly from side to side. “Sometimes it’s too late to do what you should’ve been doing all along. Door is closed, Riley. Let me work, indeed! Are you dumbass crazy?”

  His face turned scarlet with rage. “Don’t you talk to me like that and don’t laugh at me.”

  She brought the gun back up, only this time she aimed it at his crotch. “Give me a reason.”

  The cowbell attached to the front door rang loudly. He took two steps back but she readjusted the gun, hoping her aim would put a hole through both balls with one shot.

  Nadine stopped at the end of the counter. “What in the hell are you doing in town, Riley? And don’t be givin’ me that look. I heard that Bobby Ray holed up in your place last night. He’s back home now, but we’ve had a come-to-Jesus talk.” She turned to Allie and asked, “What’s he done that you’ve got a gun on his stuff?”

  “He raised his fist at me,” Allie said.

  “Then shoot him and I’ll be your witness,” Nadine said.

  “He came to give me a second chance,” Allie said. “You want to spread the news so Suzanne knows what kind of man she’s quittin’ college for?”

  “Are you crazy? She can damn sure do better than you.” Nadine got right into his personal space and poked him in the chest.

  “I don’t know what gave her that idea. I’m a happily married man. I dropped by because I was in town. She’s lying. I would never hit a woman.” Riley pulled himself up to his full height of five feet eight inches. “I’ll be going now. I don’t have to take abuse from either of you.”

  “No, but I reckon Greta and Suzanne might have some that you’ll have to take when they both hear you’ve been down here trying to get back with your ex,” Nadine told him.

  He almost made it to the door when Irene rushed inside and stopped right in front of him. She stomped one foot on the wooden floor.

  “You bastard. What in the hell are you doin’ in my store?” she demanded. “I hope God strikes you graveyard dead. And God hears the prayers of little children and crazy old women, so you’d best get on out of here.”

  “I’m leaving.” He turned back to give Nadine an evil smile. “You ever tell her about us?” The slamming door echoed through the store like a shotgun blast.

  “Did you screw him, too?” Irene turned on Nadine.

  Nadine blushed and covered her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry, Allie.”

  “Before or after we were married?” Allie asked.

  The sobbing started.

  “I asked a question,” Allie said loudly.

  “After,” Nadine sobbed. “But only two times. He said that you couldn’t keep him happy, that you hated sex and wouldn’t even sleep with him. But I wasn’t the only one, Allie.”

  “Sharlene?”

  Nadine dropped her hands and nodded. “But before y’all were married.”

  “And Mary Jo?”

  “Right before Greta,” Nadine whimpered.

  Irene threw up her hands in disgust and went straight back to the office where she sat down in the office chair and turned on the television. Allie could barely think straight, but she made a quick call to her mom to let her know Granny was safe and sound before turning toward Nadine.

  Nadine froze in the spot where she’d been standing when Riley was still there. “I am so sorry. I came to town to ’fess up to you. Honest, I did. I heard you were runnin’ the store for Lizzy because she’s sick, and I came in here to tell you that I won’t be flirting with Blake Dawson anymore. I didn’t know you were interested in him and I feel so guilty for what I did with Riley, I’d never do that to you again, Allie. You deserve better.”

  Allie should feel something other than indifference. Four women including Greta had slept with her husband either before or after she married him. One was standing right there within slapping distance. She should hate her but the only thing she felt for Nadine was pity. “Well, thank you for that but you should be thinkin’ about your wedding instead of my feelings.”


  Nadine took a step toward the counter. “You have always been too nice. We were all so jealous of you in high school and then afterwards when you married Riley. Every girl in school was in love with him and he chose you. We all hated you for that.”

  Allie wasn’t in a hugging mood so she hoped to hell Nadine didn’t come around the end of the counter and expect to have a girly-type hugging fest. “Don’t look like much of a catch now, does he?”

  Nadine’s chin quivered and more tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving long streaks of black mascara in their wake. “I’m bored. I want my own café, but that’s not going to happen. Bobby Ray wants me to quit my job when we get married. If I’m bored now, just think what it will be then. I’m so jealous of you. Always have been because you have something that is yours and you work for it and you are happy.”

  Allie’s mind went into high gear. “Rent one of the empty buildings and put in a café. We could use one in Dry Creek. You might not make a million dollars a year, but it will give you something to do. I’ve eaten your cookin’ at the church socials and you’re good at it.”

  “I’m not as smart as you. I can cook but a business requires book work and I never was real good in school,” Nadine said.

  “Sharlene is good at bookkeeping. She works at a bank and could help you with that,” Allie said.

  “Do you really think I could do this?” Nadine whispered.

  “Yes, I do,” Allie said.

  Nadine cocked her head to one side. “You reckon your mom would rent the old café building to me? It’s already set up with a kitchen. Would take a lot of cleanup but it would cut down on start-up cost.”

  “Go ask her. She might even rent to own so that if you get it going good you could buy the place from her,” Allie said.

  “Why didn’t I think of that rather than hating you for having what I wanted?” Nadine asked.

  Allie laid a hand on Nadine’s arm. At first the woman flinched and then she grabbed the hand and brought it to her cheek. “Like I said, you’ve always been too nice.”

  “I can be a real bitch. Ask my sister if you don’t believe me. Or ask Deke or Blake. But the past is gone and today is all we get. You might want to talk to Bobby Ray before you talk to Mama. He’s a lot like Riley in that he expects his little woman to stay home and raise kids.”